Japan is keen to support "realistic" decarbonization efforts in Southeast Asia while continuing to use coal, delegates heard at the 35th Clean Coal Day International Symposium held in Tokyo on 3 September.
Japan will accelerate working together with Southeast Asian countries to support the continued use of coal while reducing carbon emissions, including through ammonia co-firing projects in Malaysia, Takahiro Tajiri, director-general for international affairs at the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy under Japan's ministry of economy, trade and industry Meti, said in a speech at the symposium.
Japan has achieved a 20pc of ammonia co-firing with coal during trial operations at the 1GW No.4 coal-fired unit at the Hekinan power plant and aims to raise the co-firing rate to 50pc in the future. Japan can leverage this technology to support Malaysia and other countries in the region, according to Tajiri.
Maintaining coal use while reducing carbon emissions through co-firing with renewable fuels such as ammonia and biomass is a "realistic" pathway for many countries, including Japan and those in Southeast Asia, Tajiri said. Coal remains affordable and provides a stable source of energy supply, he added.
Japan should help Southeast Asian countries balance energy security and decarbonization through coal-related technologies, including ammonia co-firing, Paul Baruya, director of strategy and sustainability at Future Coal Global Alliance, said at the symposium.
Coal has proven to be an alternative fuel to natural gas in many Asian countries when the de facto closure of the strait of Hormuz caused a sudden and unexpected disruption to LNG supply, Yoshikazu Kobayashi, chief economist and director for research strategy and energy security at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ), said in his speech.
